To Protect Her
by WhoseWho
Summary: When Rose is seriously injured the Doctor turns to the only people on Earth with the ability to help - Torchwood. But what will happen when Jack & the Doctor try to keep Jack's immortality, and Rose's part in it, a secret from her, and how will she react when she finds out Jack is still alive? Multi-chapter fic, set S2 of Doctor Who & S2 Torchwood. (Includes some Jack/Ianto).
1. Doctor Who?

Ianto was the first one to say anything. Ten seconds had gone by in silence, before he stood up and said: "would anyone like some coffee?" That was what he did in these sort of situations. Not that there had ever really been a situation quite like this before. No one said anything for a few seconds, and then Jack said a quiet "thanks."

As he poured the hot water into the pot he bit down on the side of his mouth. He didn't understand how this was going to work. Well, no, that wasn't exactly true. How it was going to work was easy enough. The real question was why? No, wrong again. The real question, if he was honest, was the same one it had been from the very first day. Who the hell was Jack, and what had he done before they met him? Not the answer, whatever it was, would stop him helping, of course...

Gwen frowned, and shook her head a little.

"I don't like this," she said. "It feels sneaky."

"Who is she?" Owen piped up. "I'd at least like to know who I'm lying to. Not that it's the first time you've kept something from us…"

Jack looked down; crossing his arms, and gave a brief sigh. When he looked back up at them it was with conviction in his eyes. Gwen could tell he was debating whether or not he could tell them… well, whatever was going on. Tosh was studying him with the same look.

"Her name is Rose Tyler," Jack said finally. "I'd say she'd be twenty one or twenty two at the oldest, nineteen at the youngest. Mind you, I'm a little out of the loop…"

"Nineteen?" Tosh repeated. "What can she have gotten into at that age? Apart from the usual, I mean."

Jack laughed, and flashed a smile to the ceiling. "You have no idea," he said.

"That's just name and age," Owen said. "Tell us what it is she's done that means one of us has to pretend to be the boss."

Jack looked at the other man, cleared his throat, and then continued. "Like I said, she's come into some contact with some alien technology, and she needs help."

"What kind of alien technology?" Tosh said.

"I don't know."

"Well, what was she doing?" she asked.

"Don't know that either."

"What exactly do you know?" Owen said.

"Not a lot," Jack said. "Now there's someone else coming with her, and I need you to make sure I'm out of sight when he arrives."

"Why's that then?" Gwen asked.

"Because if I'm not, I just might kill him."

Ianto walked into the room with a tray of coffee, and placed it down onto the table.

"What did I miss?" he said.

"Apparently, our boss is going to do someone in," Owen said.

Ianto blinked. "Wonderful. Another fun day at the office then."

Jack was looking at the wall with a serious, thoughtful expression.

"I won't actually leave the base," he said, "I'll just be out of sight. I want to be patched into the cameras while you're examining her, alright?"

"All right," Tosh nodded. "I'll make sure they're all in working order."

"Gwen, you're the boss. Well, not really, but you know. Don't get too excited – I'll be watching the whole time. Oh and Owen?"

"Jack?"

"You better be nice to her… Gwen, I need to talk to you in my office."

"Okay," Gwen said, following him there.

Jack closed the door behind them, and sat down at the desk.

"You gonna tell me what's going on?" she asked.

"Rose can't find out I'm alive. She can't know you know me. Not a word, not a whisper. Understood?"

"Not understood at all, actually, but okay."

"You're going to pretend you know the man coming with her – otherwise how the hell would he know who we are? His name is the Doctor."

"Doctor who?"

"Just Doctor. He's an alien. Very powerful, very intelligent, has a lot of friends and a lot of enemies. Total asshole, but brilliant. Got that?"

"Wait, did you just say he's an alien?"

"Yep. Looks human though, so it won't be a problem if you have to take him anywhere. Like off the edge of a cliff…"

"I take it you two don't get along."

Jack laughed a little bitterly. "I don't know… We used to be close, actually. At least I thought we were."

"Right," said Gwen, a little awkwardly. "But Rose doesn't know you know each other, is that right?"

"No, she knows. She was there with us. She just doesn't know I'm alive."

"But the Doctor does?"

"Yep."

"Okay... Jack," Gwen said slowly. "Is this, you know, your Doctor?"

Jack gave her a mysterious smile, and then continued: "He won't ask you about me while she's around. Remember not to say anything in front of her. Oh, and he'll be arriving in a TARDIS."

"In a what?"

"TARDIS. Stands for time and relative dimension in space... It's a big blue box."

"Okay… So how're we gonna get that downstairs then?"

"That won't be a problem."

The noise of the time ship filled the hub, sending loose pieces of paper up in the air.

* * *

Gwen stood with square shoulders, hoping she didn't look too amazed as the blue box someone came into existence. Ianto muttered something behind her, but she didn't have time to ask him what it was before the door swung open, and the man she had been waiting for stepped out. After Jack's description she had expected him to walk out full of bravado, act like they were best friends and swagger around a little, but instead he walked forward with steely eyed purpose and fixed her with an expression that made her stomach flip.

"Are you Gwen?" he asked. He was tall and skinny, dressed in a striped suit that was a little too small for his long frame, with wild hair he had clearly been running his hands through. He wasn't the sort of man you would think could send chills through someone as tough as Gwen. But he did. It was something behind his eyes... Alien, definitely.

"Yes," she said, eyes wide and unblinking.

He looked around the room for a second, before pointing at Owen, who was standing with amazement on his face.

"You," the Doctor said, "I need your help carrying... Gwen, has Jack told you what we need you to do?"

"Pretend I know you."

The Doctor looked at her, nodded, and said, "Thank you."

"You!" he clicked at Owen, "Hurry up!"

He ran back into the TARDIS. Owen hesitated for only a second before running in after him.

"Bloody hell! Look at this place!" they heard him say.

A few seconds afterwards he emerged with what looked like medical equipment in his arms. He walked over to the autopsy room quickly, as if he wanted to start running, and said to Gwen in a low voice as he passed her: "this isn't good."

Half a second later the Doctor emerged again, this time carrying a blonde girl in his arms. She was clearly, at the very least, unconscious. What wasn't clear was where she had been hurt, or how, only that it had been bad; her body sat limp and awkwardly, with dark purple bruising scattered all over her. He was carrying her so close to him it was hard to see anything more.

"Tell Jack I'm here," the Doctor looked at Tosh. "Please," he added.

"I don't think I need to," she said, pointing towards the camera.

The Doctor looked up at it with a stony expression, and gave a curt nod.

In his office, out of sight, Jack did the same.

"Over here!" Owen called, and the Doctor moved as quickly as he could, gently laying her down on the table.

Ianto followed the others over to the railing, looking down in silence. They watched as the Doctor, whoever he was, gently pushed the hair off the girl's face, and took her hand in his.

"I put her in status," he said to Owen, still looking at the girl. "When I take her out we'll only have a ten minutes before it's too late. Are you a good enough doctor?"

Owen smirked. "You clearly don't know me," he said.

The Doctor turned so sharply on his heel towards them that even the three above jumped a little.

"Don't be cocky," he said in a low voice. "Just tell me if you're good enough. Because there is no way in hell I'm letting you near her if you aren't. So are you good enough or not?"

Owen blinked. "Yes," he said, sincerely. "Yes, I am."

"Good man!" the Doctor said, suddenly smiling at him.

"Is there anything we can do?" said Tosh.

The stranger turned around. "Yes, there is. I need someone to monitor her while we do this. Can you do that?"

"Yes," she nodded quickly, running down the stairs to join them.

"What happened to her?" Ianto asked.

The Doctor had started setting up his equipment with a steely, focused expression. He didn't look at Ianto as he replied.

"It was my fault," he said. "I got arrogant, thought I could see things coming, talk my way out of anything. Turns out I can't, and Rose got caught in the middle."

"Jesus," Owen muttered to himself, as he cut open the girl's top to reveal the almost black wound in the center of her chest. "Get ready to start timing, Tosh."

The Doctor clenched his jaw for a moment, and then went back to his work with even more speed.

"Oh my god," Gwen said, covering her mouth, staring down at the decidedly _wrong _whole in the centre of the young girl's pale chest._. _

Ianto looked over at her just in time to see all the colour drain for her face. He grabbed her by the elbow and said quietly, "let's go over here."

He sat her down on the couch and asked her if she was going to be sick. She shook her head no. She didn't even notice him leaving her until he came back holding a glass of water. She took a slow sip and then said: "thanks."

"No problem."

"I don't know why that got to me so much… God knows we've seen worse here, haven't we?"

Ianto didn't say anything, just giving her a small smile.

"I think it was because I had been looking at her face before Owen opened her shirt… She looked young, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she did."

"Do you think she'll be alright?"

"I don't know. I hope so… Are you going to be okay here? I want to go check on Jack."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Go see how he is… I want to know what he knows about all this anyway."

* * *

Ianto knocked gently on Jack's door. When he opened it he saw his boss staring at the screen on his desk intently.

"Jack," he said softly.

Jack looked up. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to see if you were alright."

"I'm fine."

"Who - "

"Please don't ask me who he is," Jack said. "Because right now I have no idea…"

"Actually, I was going to ask who she is."

"You're more interested in her?" Jack's expression was unreadable.

"She's the one that's been hurt. And, well, Gwen said she looked young."

"I told you she'd be young."

"Rose Tyler," Ianto nodded. "Why can't she know you're alive?"

"Because it would hurt her."

Ianto frowned. "I can't imagine anyone wanting you dead, Jack," he said.

Jack laughed. "Thanks," he said, "but that's not the problem."

"Then what is the problem? I don't like seeing you so uncomfortable."

Jack sighed and walked over to where Ianto was standing, putting one hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be fine," he told him, "as long as she is." Seeing in Ianto's face he was going to ask again, Jack added: "We travelled together."

"Where you…"

"No. Not in the way you're thinking. But she is important to me." Jack put one hand on the side of the other man's face for a moment, then dropped it.

Ianto turned to leave the room, when Jack spoke again.

"Tell the Doctor I want to see him, when he's finished."

* * *

Owen pulled off his surgical gloves with a sharp slapping sound.

"Three minutes remaining," Toshiko's relieved voice said.

Owen inspected the girl's vital signs with a sigh. That had been a close call, but they'd managed it.

"You have good hands," he told the stranger.

The Doctor didn't respond, staring down woefully at the girl still lying unaware beneath them. He stroked her face tenderly, and for a moment Owen actually thought he might burst into sobs, or, at least, kiss her. But he didn't. Instead he looked up, grinning a little madly, and said: "We're quite the team, aren't we? Doctors united and all that!"

His face suddenly shifted again, and he said: "We should move her somewhere more comfortable."

"How long do you think it will take her to wake up?" Owen said.

"Oh, shouldn't be too long. A few hours at the most, I'd say. But you're the expert on humans. Still though, don't want to give her a sore neck – you wouldn't happen to have a couch anywhere around her, would you?"

"A stiff neck'll be the least of her worries," Owen shook his head. "I don't know what the hell you two were doing when this happened, but you're clearly the older one, so I'm blaming you. She's going to need to rest for at least couple of days – you got that?"

"Believe me, we won't be going anywhere for a while," the Doctor said, taking Rose's still hand in his. "Now, where are we moving sleeping beauty?"

Ianto cleared his throat, and the two men looked up.

"I can help Owen with that," he said, looking at the Doctor. "Jack wants to see you."

"You can tell your boss I'm busy," the Doctor said, pointing a finger. "And I'm not leaving my best friend lying on a Torchwood slab while he has words with me."

"Now how did I know you were going to say that?" Jack said.

The Doctor stiffened slightly. "Captain," he nodded.

"Doctor," Jack nodded back. "Rose will be fine," he said, and Ianto could see Jack was avoiding looking at the girl. "And we need to talk."

The Doctor put his head back a little, sticking his hands in his pockets, then followed the Captain out of the autopsy room.

"You be careful with her," he said in a threatening voice, pointing at Owen on his way out.

"Yeah,like you can talk," Owen muttered.

Tosh stepped forward, into the position the Doctor had just left, and looked down at the girl.

"Her name's Rose," Owen told her.

"She's pretty," Tosh observed.

"I hadn't noticed," Owen said, and Tosh rolled her eyes.

"I wonder what happened to her," she said, looking back down.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, I feel sorry for her."

* * *

Upstairs, Jack closed the door to his office quietly, and turned around to face his old friend.

"Got anything to say?" he said, crossing his arms.

"Thank you," the Doctor said. "I know you don't like people coming here. So, thank you."

"You know I'd always help her," Jack responded coolly. "I was thinking more on the lines of you abandoning me."

"I couldn't have you on board."

"So you said."

"Just being here with you now – it feels wrong, Jack. You're wrong."

"I've noticed, thanks."

The two men stared at each other for a few moments, and then Jack shook his head, laughing.

"Would you look at us?" he said. "Imagine if Rose was watching this. She'd probably slap us both."

"Me more than you," the Doctor said.

"Yeah, well, you deserve it… I've had a long time to get over that though. Do you want a drink?"

Before the Doctor had answered Jack was already pouring him one.

"Have you had work done?" the Doctor asked.

"Ha! Like you can talk!"

"Oh, yeah! I forgot you hadn't seen this yet! What do you think?"

"Honestly? Bit skinny. Good hair though."

"You think? Shame it's not ginger, really, but you can't have everything…"

"You know you love it, don't try and fool me."

"Well, you know…"

They both smiled into their drinks, before Jack said: "What happened to her, Doctor? You didn't say when you called… Should I be worried?"

"No," the Doctor said quickly. "No. I wouldn't let anything hurt her that badly. Owen's a good doctor," he added.

"Best in the business. That's why I recruited him."

The Doctor nodded, sitting down on the chair behind Jack's desk. The captain leant against the wall as they both stared at the security footage displayed on the screen, showing a slumbering Rose lying on the newly cleared off couch, courtesy of Ianto, who was busy tidying up around her.

"Anything interesting on?" Jack said, remembering another time.

"Bit domestic, that one," the Doctor ignored the reference, pointing at Ianto's image on the screen.

Jack smiled fondly. "Yeah, well, he looks good doing it, doesn't he? Love that suit…"

The Doctor looked up at his facial expression and shook his head. "Some people never change." He looked thoughtful for a second, watching Ianto prop Rose's head up with a pillow and said: "What's he like in a crisis?"

"Don't even think about it," said Jack in a stern voice. "Anyway, do you really want someone else on that ship? God knows you were jealous when I was around."

The Doctor went to say something, but he was interrupted by Owen's entrance.

"She's waking up," he said.

_(To Be Continued) _


	2. Drunk

**_A/N: This is kind of a silly chapter, in some parts, but I wanted to break up the angst a little bit (you're welcome). Please review, lovelies! _**

* * *

_The Doctor went to say something, but he was interrupted by Owen's entrance._

_"__She's waking up," he said._

* * *

Both men moved forward with a speed that took Owen by surprise, as he stepped back into the door frame on impulse. They were both about to push past him when the Doctor put one hand in the middle of Jack's chest, halting his path.

They looked into each other's eyes with an understanding that Owen hadn't seen Jack share with many people before (with the possible exception of Ianto, but he wasn't completely sure what was going on there), and his boss nodded and turned around, walking back into the centre of his office.

The Doctor stopped still as well, looking back at Jack for a moment, before running out of the room.

"The camera's are still on," Owen said to Jack's back, "if you want to watch."

"Go help," Jack said, walking over behind his desk again.

Owen nodded, and ran after the newcomer.

* * *

The first thing Rose knew was that was cold.

Then she noticed she was itchy.

Someone had taken her shirt off, she realised… all she had on was her jacket. Well, that explained it. She wasn't really worried about the mysterious disappearance of her t-shirt - after all, she was with the Doctor. The Doctor. A confusing flash of images ran through her mind too quickly to make sense of. Something had gone wrong. Then she noticed the pain.

She let out a deep groan.

"Rose?" a soft voice said. "Rose, can you hear me?"

She didn't recognize that voice, but something inside her trusted it. She opened her eyes.

Someone was leaning over her. It took a few seconds for the image to come into focus, and she blinked twice. A pretty woman was leaning over her with a gentle smile, her short black hair hanging down around her face.

Usually, when this sort of thing happened, Rose would sit up quickly and demand to know what the hell had gone on. This time, however, she couldn't seem to find the strength, or the will-power to force it.

"What happened?" she asked, with far less authority than she would have liked. She sounded groggy. "Who are you?"

"My name is Toshiko," she said, smiling that same comforting smile. "Don't worry, you're okay. We've been looking after you."

Rose wanted more than anything to close her eyes. Never in her life had the idea of sleep been so appealing. She was so tired. She could close her eyes, couldn't she? Toshiko seemed nice. She seemed good. Nothing was going to happen. Yeah, she could close her eyes.

"Rose, keep your eyes open for me, okay?"

Rose frowned. Maybe she didn't like this woman after all. Couldn't she see how tired she was? Then a question hit her with the weight of a brick.

"The Doctor," she said, "Is the Doctor okay?"

"He's fine," Tosh said.

Rose let out a sigh of relief, suddenly finding herself back to liking Toshiko. "Where is he?"

"He's here, he's with - uh - he's with our doctor. Don't worry, he's coming now."

There was a loud banging noise, as if on cue, immediately followed by the sound of swearing, and what Rose recognised as the Doctor's voice chastising someone. The words "alien moron," followed by "trust the human" drifted over to her.

She couldn't manage to sit up and look for herself, but the half amused, half annoyed expression on Toshiko's face told her it wasn't anything to worry about. And the Doctor was here now. It was all fine. Toshiko was nice, wasn't she? Yes. Yes, Rose liked her. She was with the Doctor. The Doctor and Toshiko. Lovely.

The sound of swearing continued in the background.

Were her thoughts usually this affectionate? Maybe she was drunk.

Would she have gotten drunk with the Doctor? Probably.

She wasn't sure if the Doctor could get drunk. She hoped he could.

Did they get drunk with Toshiko? She didn't know. Possibly. She could get drunk with Toshiko. That could be good - it seemed like a good idea. Wait, why did she want to get drunk with this woman?

Maybe she was a lesbian.

No, she didn't think so. No, definitely not, she didn't think you usually forgot that.

Why was everything so foggy? Something didn't seem right about her drunk theory. What had Toshiko said had happened?

Still looking at Tosh's face, Rose felt her eyes close, and she finally drifted back into sleep.

* * *

Owen and the Doctor fell over for a second time, still partially tangled from their fall down the stairs.

Finally, without much grace, they separated themselves, both frowning accusingly at the other man.

"If you had managed to keep your shoes on it would have been fine," Owen said.

"I'm not the one who ran into someone!"

"I was only trying to keep up with you!"

"Run faster then!"

Tosh held back a laugh as she watched the Doctor put his shoe back on, wanting to look as disapproving as she thought she probably should be, and looked back down at Rose. Her eyes were closed again.

"Rose," she said, shaking the girl gently, "Rose, can you open your eyes for me?"

Suddenly the Doctor was next to her, doing the same thing.

"Rose," he said, "come on, you've got to open your eyes, okay?"

"She should be fine," Owen said, cracking his neck as he did. "It's probably okay to let her sleep a little while longer."

"Oh, well, probably's probably good enough then?" the Doctor said, voice thick with sarcasm. Owen rolled his eyes behind him. "Rose, I'm here," he continued, "open your eyes for me."

"She was talking to me before," Tosh said, glancing at Owen.

Rose gave another small moan, stirring a little. "Rose," Tosh said, "Rose, it's me, Toshiko. I'm still here."

Rose frowned, not opening her eyes. "I'm not a lesbian," she muttered.

Owen let out a loud laugh behind them. "That's told you, Tosh," he said.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, and Tosh blushed, smiling down at the sleeping girl. "Never said you were," she said.

"That'll be the drugs," Owen said, still grinning, crossing his arms.

Rose opened her eyes.

"Rose!" the Doctor said. He pulled her into a hug.

"Woah, careful!" Owen said, rushing forward and pulling the Doctor off. "Be gentle, alright?"

The Doctor swatted Owen away, but lay a wincing Rose back down on the couch with a gentle apology.

"Doctor," Rose smiled sleepily. Her face suddenly became very serious. "Did Toshiko get me drunk?"

Tosh looked back at Owen, both struggling not to let out a giggle.

"You've been given some pretty powerful drugs," the Doctor explained. "They might make you a bit foggy."

"Ohhh," Rose said, nodding as if she understood. "Are we at a party?"

The Doctor frowned.

"I think I like this girl," Owen said.

"Whose that?" Rose frowned.

"Owen Harper," Owen replied, stepping back into her line of vision, kneeling down next to the others. "I'm a doctor. How are you feeling, sweetheart?"

"A little confused."

"That's alright, we can do all the thinking for you, yeah?" Owen said, using the understanding tone Tosh had noticed was usually reserved for patients.

Rose nodded.

"Does anything hurt?" Owen continued, touching her ribs lightly. "Is this okay?"

She frowned, closing her eyes, and the Doctor winced.

"Does that hurt?" Owen moved his hand away.

"No, it's okay."

"Good girl," Owen smiled down at her. "I don't want to put you on anything else for a while."

* * *

Gwen picked up the last two cups of coffee, following Ianto back out into the main room.

"We come bearing gifts," Ianto announced, and the Doctor, Owen and Tosh turned around to face them.

"Oh, beautiful, thanks," Owen said, taking his mug from Ianto's tray.

"Here you go Tosh," Gwen passed the other woman her coffee. "Doctor?" she inquired.

He had already gone back to holding Rose's hand. "I'm fine," he said.

"Whose that?" Rose asked, looking at the two newcomers.

"Hello, Rose," Gwen said, immediately noting that the girl was clearly on some heavy duty medication. "I'm Gwen, and this is Ianto."

"Hello," Ianto waved.

"Good," Rose said. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Ianto said, with an amused smiled.

Rose nodded. "Where is he?" she asked, sitting up a little.

Gwen shot a look of worry at the Doctor.

"Where's who?" Owen asked, frowning nervously. Tosh bit her lip, glancing at him.

"Mickey!" Rose said, as if it was obvious. She shook her head. "He's gone somewhere," she said, sounding annoyed.

The room let out a collective sigh of relief.

"Who?" said Gwen.

"Asking for Mickey the idiot," the Doctor muttered under this breath. "He's at home, Rose."

Rose lay back down again. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"No, I want you - " the Doctor started to say, but was interrupted by Owen.

"Yeah darling, you can go back to sleep now," he said, rubbing her arm affectionately.

"Brilliant," she muttered, her head falling onto her chest. Owen smirked at her. She was pretty cute.

The Doctor went to frown at Owen, but was distracted by an almost unconscious Rose taking his hand again, and his expression softened. The expression shifted back to a slightly jealous frown, however, when Rose mumbled: "bye, Toshiko, I'll miss you."

* * *

"Owen," Jack's voice came over his headset, "I want to see you in my office."

"On my way," Owen replied, still smirking at Rose. Ianto looked thoughtful for a moment, then followed him upstairs to Jack's office.

When they entered the room Jack was sitting in the same position he had been before, staring at a screen.

Owen cleared his throat, and his boss looked up, noticing the men.

"How long will she be asleep for?"

"At least an hour," Owen said. "If we can keep the Doctor away from her, that is. If he had his way she wouldn't have gone to sleep at all." He shook his head.

"Get Tosh to show him her computer programs. He'll love that," Jack said. "He can't get enough of the genius'."

"Will do," Owen said, turning away.

There was a pause.

"Are you sure she'll be asleep for that long?" Jack said.

Owen turned back around. "Why?" he frowned.

Jack rolled his eyes. "I want to know how long I can work downstairs for, alright?" he said, sounding annoyed.

"Alright, alright, sorry," Owen said, putting his hands up. "I'll let you know if there's any change." He left the room.

Ianto, who had been looking at the floor, stepped forward.

Jack looked up at him with an expression he now recognised as permission, and the younger man came around to his side of the desk, sitting on top of it and taking one of Jack's hands.

Jack put his other hand on Ianto's with a sigh, before bringing it to his face and kissing it once.

"You're going to go and sit with her, aren't you?" Ianto said.

"Is that a bad idea?" Jack asked him, dropping his hand, with more sincerity than Ianto had expected from him.

Suddenly Ianto felt the urge to reach out to Jack again. He reached towards his face, fingers just touching his jaw, feeling Jack leaning in ever so slightly as he did.

"Yes, it is," a voice said from the doorway.

The two men looked over. Ianto stood up quickly.

"Why?" Jack said, frowning at the Doctor.

"Will you leave her?" the Doctor countered.

"You know I will."

"I wish I did."

Ianto looked between the two men. "Maybe I should go," he said.

"No, you don't have to," Jack said, taking his hand, almost defensively. He didn't break his eye contact with the Doctor.

Ianto looked back up at the alien man, who was looking at Jack with the same intensity. He suddenly felt like a human shield. Jack glanced up at him, then let go of his hand again. He cocked his head towards the door, and Ianto walked across the room with a grateful sigh.

"Excuse me," he muttered, a little awkwardly, as he went past the Doctor. Jack couldn't help smiling a little, but his expression turned stony once again when Ianto was out of sight.

"If I was going to ruin this I would have done it already," Jack said, standing up.

Silence.

"You know, I'm the one who can't trust you, Doctor, not the other way around."

"I know," the Doctor said, loosing the anger in his eyes. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry Jack," he said, "I really am. But I don't know - "

"If you don't trust me, then this was never going to work," Jack crossed his arms. "But you do trust me. Don't you?"

The Doctor put his hands in his pockets, and gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Thank you," Jack said, and went to walk out of the room. He stopped as he came side to side with the Doctor, and without warning, pulled him into a hug.

If the Doctor had been surprised he didn't show it, immediately returning the gesture.

"She's fine, Doctor," Jack said.

"I know," the other man replied. They could both feel the other smiling against their shoulder. They broke apart.

"Now go see her, while you still can," the Doctor said.

Jack grinned at him, and left the room.

The Doctor sighed to himself, looking at Jack's desk. His eyes couldn't help but land on the bullet lying innocently next to an old fountain pen.

"I'm sorry," he said, under his breath.


	3. Story Time (Bonus Chapter)

Jack pulled up a chair in front of the sleeping Rose and sat down. He clenched his hands into fists. He wanted to reach out and touch her – to hold her and kiss her and tell her that she was still special to him after all this time, that in his mind they were still best friends, even after everything. But he couldn't. If he held her hand she might wake up. He wanted to hold her hand. Maybe she wouldn't notice- she was pretty drugged up, after all. Heart beating faster than it should have, he reached out and took her hand. She didn't move. He breathed out a sigh of relief. It was nice to touch her, after so long. More than nice. It was… It was too much.

He swallowed, and gently laid her hand back on her stomach. His eyes travelled up her arm, and along her neck, and he couldn't help but wince.

Owen and the Doctor's combined efforts, and technologies, had managed to curb most of the bruising, but it was still clear she had been injured, and badly. Jack didn't know if he wanted to know what had happened in any more detail. Knowing as much as he did, which wasn't very much, made him feel sick enough.

She murmured something in her sleep, and Jack automatically took her hand again. How did he still have that instinct? He smirked. Even now, he couldn't help but smile thinking about her. Without warning his vision blurred a little, and he had to blink a few times to clear it. He knew that he was missing all of the best parts of her. Her smile, her laugh, her sense of humor. Being with her like this was much more than he had had in a long time, but it wasn't enough.

He shouldn't have come down here.

Jack stared at her closed eyes and breathed a deep sigh, running his thumb along hers. He stayed like that, not allowing himself to think too much, for longer than he was aware of.

"You okay?" Ianto's voice said behind him. How long had he been there?

"Yep," Jack said. His voice sounded angry. He hadn't meant it to. He breathed out. "I couldn't hear anything, when I was watching," he said. "Was she in pain?"

"She didn't say. She kept getting distracted, like she was high. It was quite funny, actually. I think she thought Tosh was hitting on her. Owen said they've put her on too many drugs for her to feel anything much yet."

Jack nodded. "But they'll wear off, won't they."

He heard Ianto sight behind him. "Owen thinks she'll be able to feel it properly when she wakes up."

Jack breathed out, putting his head in his hands. "If I didn't know he was beating himself up about this I'd do it for him," he said. "Don't leave any guns lying around."

Ianto smiled behind him. "Very tough," he said.

Jack smirked. His smile faded as he said: "She looks like a kid."

"Isn't she?"

Jack smiled again, turning around to face Ianto.

"What?" Ianto said.

"If I told you about her, you wouldn't believe me," Jack said. He stood up. "I've had enough of this," he said.

"Want to go for a walk?" Ianto asked.

Jack nodded. "That sounds good," he said.

* * *

They wondered around in silence for about ten minutes, before sitting down on a bench, looking at the people walking by. It was a cold, grey day, but there were plenty of people around.

"Tell me about her," Ianto said.

"I've already said you wouldn't believe me," Jack laughed, looking away.

"Try me."

Jack breathed out. "Alright," he said.

He paused for a moment, looking at a family walking by them. "She's the reason I'm alive," he said.

"She saved your life?" Ianto said.

"She won't stop saving it," Jack said, eyes still following the family. The wind blew his coat lightly.

Ianto was quiet. After a few seconds he said: "How?"

Jack watched the family disappear around a corner. He looked away from Ianto, and then back to him. "Imagine… Imagine looking into the rift," he said. "Looking into all of that power, and energy, and life."

"Okay," said Ianto slowly.

"You can't, can you? Not really."

"No, I can't," Ianto admitted, without any embarrassment.

"That's because no one is supposed to see that kind of force… But Rose did. She looked into time itself. Stared right into vortex," Jack shook his head, "into everything that has ever been and everything that will ever be."

"Wouldn't that hurt?"

"Oh yeah," said Jack, cocking his head and raising his eyebrows. "It almost killed her."

There was a brief pause, and then Jack continued. "But for a brief moment, she had all of the power of time and space inside of her. Very sexy," he added.

Ianto smiled at his feet.

"Also very terrifying. Humans aren't supposed to have that kind of power... I watched it on the security footage afterwards, when I was alone. It was like she was glowing. Just golden."

Ianto looked up at Jack. He took his hand, and the older man continued his story.

"That was the first time I died, that night. Shot straight through the heart. It was a pretty good death, actually. I would have been happy with that one. But Rose… Rose and I… She wanted me to be safe, so she used that power and brought me back to life. She couldn't control it though. She brought me back for good. Then they left. The Doctor took her away. She was unconscious, had no idea. As far as she knows, I died on that space station, Ianto."

"You make her sound like a god," Ianto said quietly.

"She was," Jack said, matter of factly. "But she was still Rose. That's why she saved me… She could have done anything, but…" He looked away.

"How long were you with her for?"

"About… Oh, it's hard to know, when you're there. She made me so much better than I was. I've lived a lot of lives, Ianto. But when I was with her, that life, I didn't do anything I regret. It made me a better man."

"Why can't you tell her?" Ianto asked. "She'd want to know you're alive. If she did that for you. If that was what she did with that power, then she'd want to know you were alive."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?" Ianto said gently.

"Imagine knowing that you had been a god, Ianto… Imagine knowing you had been a god, and you had made someone you care about immortal. I don't want her to know what she's done to me. I don't want her to have to live with that."

They were both silent for a long time.

"You wouldn't have to say you were immortal," Ianto pointed out.

"I've thought of that," Jack said.

"And?"

"I don't know if I could lie to her like that."

"You're lying to her now, aren't you?"

Jack laughed. "Remind me never to tell you anything," he smiled.

"Sorry," Ianto smiled back.

"We should get back," Jack said, pulling him up. "She could wake up again soon."


	4. The Bruise

_They were running._

_"__Bit of a work out," she shouted, and the Doctor laughed loudly, grabbing her hand and pulling her along even faster._

_She could feel the gravel moving underneath her feet as her heart thumped madly against her ribcage. She couldn't help grinning along with him, even as her lungs struggled to fill against their mad rush. _

_CRACK. _

_She let out a yelp of pain and buckled over onto the ground._

_"__Rose!"_

_"__It's fine – I'm okay. It's just my ankle, nothing serious."_

_"__Can you walk?"_

_"__I think so – argh!"_

_"__No you can't. I'll carry you – come on!"_

* * *

Rose breathed in so quickly it sent a dizzy rush of air to her head.

She opened her eyes, and looked around, trying to see past her light-headedness.

The Doctor wasn't carrying her. And she wasn't in the TARDIS. It looked like… some sort of base. She didn't recognise it at all.

What had happened? This couldn't be good. She closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them again. First priority – find out where the hell she she could find out what happened before.

She sat up, and let out a loud involuntary yelp, shocked by the pain that ran through her body at the movement. She heard someone's footsteps running towards her, probably having heard the noise, but she couldn't focus enough to think of some sort of plan. She could just pretend to be asleep, couldn't she?

Slowly, she tried to move back into her first position, but that didn't stop the horrible sensation. She was breathing too quickly, panicking more than she knew was sensible. She tried taking slow, deep breaths, tried to calm herself, but wave after wave of pain kept crashing over her. She didn't realise she had closed her eyes until she heard someone saying her name.

"Rose, I'm here. Just breathe deep for me, okay. Your drugs have worn off, but Owen is going to give you a shot, alright? Just hold on."

She opened her eyes to see a woman looking back at her.

"Who are you?" she said, between breaths. "Where I am?"

"My name is Tosh – remember? I was here when you woke up the first time."

Rose shook her head. "I've never seen you before," she said, pushing the woman's hand off her. "Where's the Doctor? Where am I?"

"Rose!" the Doctor ran into the room, as if he'd heard her question.

"Doctor!" Rose cried out (with a little more emotion than she might have liked), reaching for his hand.

"Ouch," he said through his teeth, as she squeezed down on it hard.

"Where the hell are we?" she said, slightly aggressively, closing her eyes again.

"With friends," the Doctor said. "Just focus on my voice, can you do that?"

Rose nodded.

"Owen, hurry up!" Tosh called.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" a man's voice came towards them.

"Let me do it," she heard the Doctor say, and then: "I'm going to give you an injection, okay?"

Rose nodded again.

"Alright, here you go."

There was a sharp pain in her arm, and then a deep, cooling sensation running all over her. She breathed a deep sigh of relief. The pain wasn't gone, but it was nowhere near where it had been before.

"Thanks," she said, opening her eyes. She looked at the Doctor. "You all right?" she asked him, half laughing.

He smiled at her. "Much better now," he said. "Top banana.""

They looked at each other for a moment, and the man behind the Doctor cleared his throat.

"I don't mean to interrupt," he said, smirking, "but I'd like to examine my patient… now she's a little more coherent."

"You're a doctor?" Rose asked. She wanted to ask the Doctor what had happened, but she wasn't sure if had avoided explaining right away on purpose, so she held down her curiosity until they were alone.

"I wondered if you'd remember," Owen said, almost to himself, before holding out his hand. "Owen Harper," he said.

"Rose Tyler," she said back.

"I know," he laughed. "We met about an hour ago. The medication we put you on can sometimes cause short-term memory loss. Which is a shame, really, because you and Tosh - "

Tosh elbowed Owen in the knee, before reintroducing herself to Rose.

"Is it just the two of you here?"

"Gwen, Ianto and - well, they're here as well – don't know where they've got to, though," Owen said. "But you'll see them soon enough. Right now your check up is more important."

Owen, with the Doctor's (probably unneeded) assistance, pulled Rose gently onto her feet, and helped her downstairs into the autopsy room.

"Welcome to my office," Owen said, as the Doctor helped her to sit on the metal table in the middle of the room. Rose had a distinct feeling that there had been more done here than checkups.

"Cozy," she said.

"I need you to take your jacket off for me – is that alright?" Owen said.

"Uh, yeah," Rose said, with what she hoped was a subtle glance at the Doctor. Owen followed her gaze, and cleared his throat. The other man failed to get the message, not moving.

"Doctor," Rose said.

"Mhm?"

"Leave?"

"Oh! Right, yes, sorry! I'll just, uh, I'll just be upstairs. If you need anything."

"I'm sure we'll manage," Owen said.

The Doctor looked back at Rose, apparently double-checking she wanted him to go.

"I'll see you later, yeah?"

He gave an odd nod and a tight smile, and then finally left the room.

"Took his time," Owen said, as Rose undid her jacket.

She breathed in sharply as she saw the dark bruising on her chest.

"It's looking a lot better," Owen told her, pressing lightly against her ribs.

"It was worse than this?" she said, feeling a little sick.

"How's that?" he asked her.

"Sore," she replied, making herself look away.

"On a scale of one to ten?"

"Seven… That's eight."

"Okay. I'm going to have a look at your back now, give me a number again."

"Six."

"Good. That's really good. Raise your arm for me?"

Rose winced.

"That hurt?"

"Yeah," she said, scrunching her nose up.

"You can put it down now… I'm just going to do a quick scan and compare your vitals to how they were when you came in."

He walked over to the tray lying by the side of the room, and picked up an odd looking, rectangular device with a small green screen.

"That's alien," Rose said, looking at it curiously.

"Yep. Fell through the rift about a month ago. Bloody useful, I've got to say. Not sure where it came from though."

"The rift… Are we in Cardiff?"

"That's right," he said, running the alien device over her. "Been here before, then?"

"Not for a while."

"Have any rift trouble?"

"You could say that," Rose said, remembering what was meant to be a quick refuelling trip. Just a quick pit stop, and then back on the road: '_into time, and space!'_ She remembered hi-fiving Jack and smiling to herself.

"Something funny?" Owen said.

"Just remembering a friend of mine," she said.

"Friend from Cardiff?"

"Not quite," she smiled.

Owen looked at her curiously as he finished her scan, then frowned. He shook his head.

"What?" Rose asked. "Good or bad?"

The man looked at her.

"Well, the good news," Owen said, looking down at the screen again, "is that you're not going to die."

Rose raised her eyebrows and laughed. "Brilliant, thanks," she said.

"The bad news," he continued, "is that you really should have."

"Lucky escape then," Rose said, not feeling as bothered by that as someone who didn't travel with the Doctor might have.

"Bit more than that, actually…" Owen said, looking at the screen. He walked over and showed it to her.

"Look there," he said, pointing at the image – a black and white photo of what appeared to be her heart.

Rose looked down at the screen, and frowned. "What's that?" she said, pointing to a dark patch on the side.

"That," Owen said, "is a bruise. And not a nice one. I couldn't see how bad it was when we fixed you up before, but looking at it now… I don't mean to be blunt, but it's a wonder you're still here."

Rose put her hand on her chest. "Can you fix it?" she said.

"I don't need to," Owen said. "That's the weird bit. It seems to be getting better by itself."

Rose frowned at him, biting her lip.

"Do you remember what happened?" he watched her closely.

Rose didn't say anything.

"If I was you," Owen said, leaning in, "I would go find out."

Rose looked at him for a moment, and then leapt off the slab, ignoring the sharp pain it caused, and half-ran to find the Doctor.


	5. Questions

Jack watched the security footage of Rose with a deep frown. She was running – not away from Owen, thank god – but running with urgency that he didn't like. Especially given her condition. He watched as she stopped, looking around for the Doctor. She was clearly trying to seem calmer than she actually was... And she was more puffed out than she was showing. Jack couldn't help but smile at that. But then again, there were only two people here who knew her well enough to notice.

"You better go downstairs," he said to the Doctor, who was leaning against the wall. "You two, Gwen," he added, looking at the woman sitting on the edge of his desk.

Gwen left quickly, giving Jack an understanding smile as she did, but the Doctor lingered for a moment.

"She's going to have some questions. I'm surprised she hasn't asked them yet," Jack said.

"What about your questions?" the Doctor asked.

Jack looked back up at the man with a serious expression. "Don't be a tease," he said.

"I'm not trying to be," the Doctor said, laughing.

"Answer hers first then," Jack said.

The Doctor nodded, smile fading, and went downstairs to find Rose.

* * *

By the time he found her she was already with Gwen, sitting back on the couch she had woken up on. Neither woman noticed him approaching, so he held back for a moment, curious.

"How long did you know him for?" Rose asked Gwen, putting her thumbnail between her teeth. It wasn't like her to be so openly nervous about something, the Doctor observed.

"Oh," Gwen pretended to consider, "not very long. He was more a friend of a friend, really. But I owe him a few favors. And now we're stuck looking after you," she joked, elbowing Rose lightly.

Rose smiled. "So he still looks the same, as when you last saw him?"

Gwen frowned. "What do you mean?"

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Hello," he said.

"Doctor," Rose went to stand up, but Gwen held on to her.

"Best not rush about too much more," the older woman said, Welsh accent coming through thickly. Rose nodded, suddenly much more conscious of the throbbing in her chest.

"Would you give us moment alone, Gwen?" she asked, with a smile.

"Sure, of course. I'll be with Tosh if you need me, okay?" she said, and left them alone.

As she walked away from the two strangers she couldn't help feeling bad about lying to Rose. She liked her. She seemed sweet, and brave. Not the kind of person she liked to mislead. Not that she really liked misleading anyone, but that was this job. And she trusted Jack. Didn't she? She shot back a quick look in time to see the Doctor walking closer to Rose, and then went to find Tosh.

"She's nice," Rose said, as the Doctor sat down next to her.

"Mmm," the Doctor said, clearly without any thought. He was busing looking at the bruising on one of Rose's hands, which he just picked up.

"Doctor," Rose said, taking a deep breath in. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Of course not," the Doctor said, not looking away from the bruise.

"Then why haven't you said what happened," she said.

The Doctor looked up.

"I've been waiting for you to say something, and you haven't. You just keep running off. It's like your avoiding me, and it's not fair," Rose's eyes were wide, clearly upset.

"I want to know what happened. The last thing I remember is running… from… from… argh!" she cut herself off in frustration.

"See! I can't even remember_ that_ properly! And then suddenly we're here and you just expect me to trust these people I've never met, and of course I do because you know them, and you and I - but it's still not right of you to just…" she stopped, taking a deep breath. "Is there something you can't say here? Because it's not like you to keep things from me… not like this. I wanna know what's going on, Doctor. Especially when I'm in danger. Or was in danger, or… _Just tell me_. Please."

The Doctor was silent for a moment.

"Go on!" Rose said, sounding even more annoyed now. "Tell me!"

The Doctor took another moment, and then, after swallowing, said: "You're right."

He exhaled. "You're right," he said again, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep you in the dark, Rose. I didn't realise how little you remembered – I thought you knew, I'm sorry."

Rose's face softened a little. "Just tell me what happened," she said.

"We were running from the Luions, remember?"

A sudden flash of memory ran through her mind. "You stole that watch," she said, nodding.

"I didn't steal it!" the Doctor protested. "They borrowed it from me in the first place! But anyway… you remember that, don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah I do now," Rose said. "Not your shining moment I've gotta say…"

The Doctor ignored her last comment. "And then you fell, and you twisted your ankle."

"Yeah! Yeah I remembered that before, but it was… I remember now," she nodded again. She frowned. "It doesn't hurt anymore," she said.

"Owen took care of it for you," the Doctor said.

"Thank you Owen," Rose muttered. He smiled at her. "What happened next?" she said.

"Then," the Doctor stopping, cringing a little. "I'm sorry, Rose, but you got shot."

"Oh."

"I tried to… I tried to cover you but it didn't… I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Fine now, aren't I?" she paused, putting her hand back in his. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"I'm sorry I didn't explain everything straight away," the Doctor said.

They pulled each other into a hug. Rose smiled into his shoulder, feeling a little silly, even if it had been justified, about her previous anger. Then another thought came into her mind, and she pulled away.

The Doctor gave her a questioning look, raising one eyebrow.

"Owen," she said, "Owen said I was healing too fast." She frowned. "He seemed worried."

She thought she saw panic flash across the Doctor's face, only for a second, but then his calm smile told her she'd imagined it.

"Yeah, well, didn't want an Earth doctor knowing everything about the wonders of time lord medical technology, did I?" he said.

"Right," Rose said, rolling her eyes. "Well tell him that, would you? I think he's pretty creeped out."

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to mention it…" the Doctor said, his expression changing slightly.

Rose yawned.

"You should rest," the Doctor said seriously. "I don't want to leave here until I'm sure you're better, but I can carry you into your room on the TARDIS if you want."

Rose almost laughed at his sincerity. It was cute. "I think I can walk," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure. But you can walk me there?" she added, giving him a smile she knew he loved, leaning against his arm.

"I'd be happy too," he smiled back.

It wasn't until she was alone in her room that Rose realized she was still missing her shirt. She sighed. May as well go get it now, while she remembered. She grimaced slightly as she stood back up again, regretting the run she'd made out of Owen's medical room before.

She ignored the pain, walking quickly back out of the TARDIS and back to the room she had run out of. Owen was looking through some files when she came in.

"Do you have my shirt?" she asked.

"Ianto's cleaning it for you," Owen replied.

"Oh," Rose said, "that's nice of him."

Owen gave her a non-committed smile before looking at her seriously. "Did you ask him?" he said.

"Yeah," Rose replied, "nothing to worry about."

Owen raised his eyebrows, but didn't ask her any more questions. He clearly wanted to, but he was holding back. Well, she wasn't saying anything more if he wasn't. Rose went to leave, but stopped, and said: "Oh by the way, thanks for fixing my ankle."

Owen looked at her with a confused expression. "Your ankle?"

"Yeah. It was broken when I came in."

Owen laughed. "Actually, it was one of the few things that was in perfect shape," he told her. "And you've already thanked me for all of that," he continued, before turning back to his files.

Rose frowned. She remembered breaking her ankle. It was one of the few things she did remember…. Why did the Doctor tell her Owen had fixed it?

He probably fixed it himself, she told herself, and just didn't want to take the credit for it.

Yeah, that was it, she thought.

But her stomach was still sinking as she opened the TARDIS door.


	6. Almost Understanding

_A/N: Hey fellow fans. Firstly I just wanted to give you guys a quick apology for how long it's been since I've updated my stories – I've got a lot of stuff going on at the moment, I've just moved back home after living in Europe, and now I'm moving to a different state… so it's been a bit hectic. But it's all done now, so we can get our fan fic on ;) Please review and let me know what you think of the story!_

* * *

Rose woke up faster than usual. Most mornings it took her a few drowsy rounds of almost opening her eyes and drifting back into a dream before she actually managed to get up. Or, more, accurately, before the Doctor decided she'd been asleep more than long enough and "accidentally" dropped increasingly heavy objects outside her door and she got annoyed enough to get up and open the door. This time, however, she sat up straight, like a bolt of lightning had hit her, without any dropped frying pans.

She glanced over at the clock beside her bed. She'd actually managed to sleep through the night, which surprised her; but then again she _had_ felt completely exhausted from the pain in her chest. As that thought ran through her mind she rubbed her rib cage without thinking, wincing in expectation. Surprisingly, it felt fine. She frowned, and then tentatively pressed a little harder. Okay, that hurt a bit. But it was still a pretty big improvement. The way Owen had talked she'd expected to be limping and moaning for weeks… Owen. That was what had woken her up. She'd had a dream about Owen.

She closed her eyes, letting the images come back to her.

* * *

_She was sitting in the free clinic near her Mum's flat, watching a very large clock on the wall. The Doctor was running late. He was meant to come with her, but he wasn't here. She looked down at her watch, taking a bite of the apple she had apparently been holding. It hummed strangely in her hand._

_"__Rose?" Owen's voice made her look up. He was calling her into the doctor's room to see him. _

_When she closed the door it turned from a doctor's room into… well, the Doctor's room. His bedroom. _

_She sat down on the bed, looking around. She'd only been in here a few times before. It was bigger than she remembered, with little stars all over the dark blue walls._

_"__How are you feeling?" Owen asked her._

_"__Okay," Rose replied, biting her lip. The ceiling was moving in odd, swirling patterns._

_"__Are you nervous?"_

_"__No," she shook her head, putting the apple down on the floor._

_Owen walked closer, and held her hand. "I'm sure it's fine," he told her, finding the pulse point on her wrist. "I mean, you're not dying, are you?"_

_"__No," she agreed. "But the Doctor isn't here, is he?"_

_"__I'm sure he's fine, sweetheart," Jackie said. When had her mother arrived?_

_"__He's totally fine," Owen agreed. "Just like Jack."_

_Rose frowned. _

_"__Why would you say that?" she said. "That's horrible. That's a horrible thing to say."_

_"__Come on sweetheart," Jackie said, "You can't expect everyone to be quiet about it forever, can you?"_

_"__You didn't even know him!" Rose said. "Neither of you did!"_

_"__Oh, not like you did I'm sure," Owen said mockingly, rolling his eyes._

_The door burst open with a bang, to reveal the Doctor standing, smoke around him._

_"__You're late!" Jackie said. "What if she's pregnant!?"_

_"__Don't worry," the Doctor said, "Jack's not here."_

_Jackie laughed, while Rose looked straight ahead, confused. _

_"__What's going on?" the Doctor asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't you trust me?"_

* * *

Rose opened her eyes.

That was weird.

She'd had some weird dreams before, sure… travelling through time and space did that to a girl… But this wasn't weird in that she was talking to aliens, or swimming through goop, or meeting vampires, this was weird in that it was about Jack. Which was pretty out of the blue, really.

She hadn't thought about him in… well, if she was honest, it had only really been a few days since she'd properly thought about him, and even then she often found him popping into her head – making some comment or telling her that yes, he would like that or this. But then that was to be expected. She missed him. Still, she hadn't dreamt about him for months.

He was the first person she'd known to die.

Sure, there was her Dad – but she'd never really known him, not really… Before the Doctor took her back he'd been more of a legend than a real person. And there had been her granddad Prentice, but he'd been sick for years, only there for the occasional holiday and even then he'd been murky at best, calling her Jackie and asking where the baby was. She'd had more of a shallow impression of him than she'd had a real relationship.

But she'd really known Jack. She'd loved Jack.

He had been the one solid constant in life with the Doctor. Apart from the Doctor himself, that is, and he wasn't exactly predictable… Jack was stable, but still exciting. The stuff she missed most about Mickey (being able to talk to him about how she felt, the _humanness_ of him, the way he didn't expect her to be impressive all the time – how she could just relax with him be young and ordinary), with the stuff that she loved most about the Doctor – the adventure, the charm, the big mouth… the way he pushed her to try new things, be bigger and better.

And then there was the stuff that was just all Jack. Like dancing on invisible space ships, carrying high tech weapons and entering them into Intergalactic couples pageants so he could flirt with the other contestants and annoy their driver. Oh, and "accidentally" spraying the Doctor with alien pheromones… That one still made her giggle.

She'd decided to herself, back when Jack was still… her mind didn't let her finish that sentence. But she'd decided ages ago that if the Doctor wasn't around she'd probably (no, definitely) have been in love with Jack. Not that she was in love with the Doctor, of course. She mentally cleared her throat, raising her eyebrows and exhaling, and swung her legs out of the bed. That was enough of that kind of thinking. She was just going to make herself upset, and had never really let herself get upset about Jack… Not properly. She hadn't had time, living with the Doctor.

Rose walked over to her vanity; not quite registering how much easier it was to do that this morning, and twisted the lid off her moisturiser, reaching for her foundation. Her mum always teased her whenever they went back home, saying: "you don't have time to ring me but you still have time to do your makeup, I see!" But the way Rose saw it, she could end up anywhere, anytime, and if she was going to be in the background of photograph of J.F.K or Einstein or Maria Callas or _whoever,_ she was going to make sure she at least looked decent. After all, you only get to insert yourself into a historical event once.

As she finished her makeup it occurred to Rose that she was going to have to go and find the Doctor.

And talk to him.

Usually that would send her out of her room faster, but today it just made her feel a little unsure. Despite their conversation the day before she still felt like he was holding something back from her, and that was never good.

In Rose's experience, when the Doctor left things out it meant one of two things. Either he was plotting to send her home (which was not happening, thank you very much) in some misguided attempt to protect her, or things were very, very bad and he didn't want to stop having fun yet. Things didn't seem very bad, and she wasn't home, or half way there - so she was stumped.

The feeling she could brush aside, but facts she couldn't. Like her ankle. Usually she wouldn't complain about not being hurt, but this time… Rose met her own eyes in the mirror and bit her lip. She trusted the Doctor, didn't she? How couldn't she?

There was a knock at her door.

* * *

"Come in," Jack said, looking up.

"Hey, boss," Owen said, slightly awkwardly.

"Is everything okay?" Jack looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "You're in early."

"I'm not sure," Owen said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What's going on?"

Owen hesitated. "You trust this guy, don't you?"

"The Doctor? I trust him with my life. Well, I would if – you know."

"Yeah… What about Rose's? Do you trust him with her life?"

Jack studied Owen closely. "He wouldn't do anything to hurt her," he said slowly. "To be honest it's actually caused a few problems," he gave a half hearted laugh, then, face becoming more serious, continued. "Why? What's he done? How angry do I have to be?" he added, only half kidding.

Owen paused, giving a short breath out. "I don't know."

"You don't know."

"But it's something," the mortal man pressed, "I swear, Jack, something's up with Rose."

"Is she in danger?"

"No. No, that's just it. She's not in any danger at all!"

Jack raised his eyebrow again. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Well, yeah, usually it would be, except sometimes we really _should_ be in danger. If a weapon has shot you like that you should expect some sort of… repercussions. There should be a danger of clotting, of triggering some sort of cardiac response, scarring, even – but she is recovering _perfectly_."

"Still not seeing the problem, Owen."

"She should be taking way longer to heal."

"She's a fighter," the captain nodded. "But she's just as human as you. So we got lucky. That's a good thing, isn't it?" he said, with a little less certainty than he had intended.

"That's what I thought at first," Owen began.

"But?"

"But then she came to see me yesterday, thanking me for fixing her broken ankle."

Jack shook his head at him, motioning at him to continue.

"She never had a broken ankle. It was perfectly fine! She made out like she had gotten it in the chase – when she was shot – but that was a fresh wound. There's no way an ankle could heal _by itself_ that quickly."

Jack was quiet for a moment. "Could the Doctor have repaired it?"

"That's what I thought," Owen said, "and I was going to go ask him about it, after Rose left, when he came and found me himself, and told me that _you_ said to leave Rose alone for a little while, which was a pretty pathetic lie."

Jack didn't say anything.

"Now, there's a lot I don't know about you Jack," Owen said, "But I do know that when you have something to say to me you say it yourself – you don't send a messenger who I don't even know."

Jack nodded slowly. "I'll talk to him," he said.

Owen didn't respond right away, apparently expecting more of a response. When he didn't get one he nodded, slightly awkwardly, and left the room.

He paused in the walk way outside Jack's office before he went back downstairs, trying to shake his disappointment in his friend's response (or lack of one), and reminding himself that he probably shouldn't talk to Rose again - at least not with the Doctor around.

* * *

"Come in," Rose said, trying to look busy as she stared down at a bottle of clear nail polish.

"How are you feeling this morning?" the Doctor asked her, leaning against the door frame. "Can I get you anything? Breakfast?"

"'M fine, thanks," Rose replied with a tight smile, looking back down at her nail polish.

"Oh," the Doctor said, sounding a little bit put out. He recovered, and continued.

"Well, in that case I guess we could get going. What do you think? New worlds to see, new people to save, hey?"

"Yeah," Rose started to say, then paused. "Actually, do you mind if we stay a little bit longer? I wanted to, um, to talk to Gwen about... something."

"What about?" the Doctor asked.

"Uh - it's... private," Rose said. She wasn't used to lying to him, and she could tell she looked uncomfortable.

The Doctor gave her an odd look. "What's private?"

"Private things," she told him, kicking herself very hard internally._ Private things?_ Pitiful. "Stuff that I can't, um, talk about with... other people."

_Smooth_, she thought to herself. _Real smooth._ She could feel her cheeks getting pinker, and felt more and more like she was making a very embarrassing mistake.

The time lord inspected her for a minute before breaking out into a small, but slightly cocky smile.

"Ooooh," he said, as if understanding perfectly. He walked over to her.

"You just take all the time you need, Rose," he told her, patting her on the head a little patronisingly, before stepping back and looking down at her again.

He sniffed, looking like she had just called him the cleverest man in the room and he was trying to seem humble.

"Just... just find me when you're done," he told her, leaving the room. She heard him whistling happily to himself as he walked back down the hallway.

Rose frowned, opening her mouth a little. She had absolutely no idea what had just happened.

_Aliens... No, alien blokes._

She closed her mouth, shaking her head. Whatever he thought, at least now she could take a little time to get these silly doubts out of her head, instead of just having them niggle at her. She'd sort out whatever was making her feel all... weird... and then they could be on their way again.

"Good plan," she muttered to herself, picking up a denim jacket and leaving her bedroom.


End file.
